Wednesday, June 3, 2026 at 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM
2220 Arts + Archives, Los Angeles
Lightstruck presents *A 16mm Experimental Film Restoration Celebration!* For this program, Lightstruck is thrilled to present an eclectic assortment of 16mm experimental short films restored by the Academy Film Archive, featuring work by John Smith, Suzan Pitt, Robert Nelson, Chick Strand, James Otis, Janie Geiser, Julie Murray, Phil Solomon, Barbara Hammer, Chris Langdon, Mike Henderson, Gus Van Sant, Mike Jittlov, Thom Andersen, and Fred Worden. Mark Toscano (one half of Lightstruck) has had an intimate connection to the films selected in this program, having worked at the Academy Film Archive for more than 20 years developing and overseeing their experimental film collections. As the other half of Lightstruck (Zena Grey), I have also gained a close relationship and devotion to this incredibly diverse and vast collection of films. The work of a film archive is complex and multifaceted, but one of the key purposes it embodies is to make its collections accessible, to ensure that films don’t merely sit untouched on vault shelves but also have the period capacity to be activated in cinema spaces for assembled audiences. Dipping into the 600+ films Mark has had the honor and pleasure of working on during his time at the Academy thus far, this program seeks to assemble some of our very favorite films from among so many special ones, representing a wide range of work spanning 1967 to 2004, all by artists who are dearly meaningful to Mark and me. So this program is a celebration of sorts, focusing on a wide array of American experimental filmmaking, all screening in 16mm preservation prints, with one stray British film to kick things off: John Smith’s *The Girl Chewing Gum*, celebrating its 50th birthday this year. And as it’s a celebration, stick around after the show for some cake! Notes by Zena Grey. Films picked by Mark Toscano. All films courtesy of the artists and all prints courtesy of and thanks to the Academy Film Archive, which is also where Mark was able to have the opportunity to restore them, with particular gratitude to Joe Lindner and Mike Pogorzelski for their support over so many years. Big additional thanks to all the collaborators from multiple film and sound labs, including Colorlab, Fotokem, Triage, Cinema Lab, Audio Mechanics, DJ Audio, Endpoint Audio, and SD Sound.